Tuesday, October 30, 2001

You always hear of distinguished personages lying in state, but I had never actually felt a need to pay my respects in such a manner. After being one of thousands who slowly walked past the casket of Rehavam Zeevi, Gandhi, HYD, I asked myself why I had participated in this ceremony. After all, it is a positive commandment, a mitzvah, to participate in a funeral and to escort the dead to a final resting place, but, on the face of it, there is no commandment to walk past the deceased's coffin.

Gandhi's tragic death hit all of Israel very hard, but the murder was especially hard for Hebron. Gandhi had always been very close to Hebron, participating in the return to the city in 1967, as the commander of the Central Region which included Hebron, following the Six day war, and later, throughout his illustrious political career, as a Knesset member and as a minister. He was always available to help and not just by telephone. Countless times Gandhi visited Hebron, coming to consult, to listen to the problems, to witness them first-hand, to do whatever possible to assist.

I remember clearly one of my first encounters with Gandhi, well over a decade ago. I think it is overwhelmingly representative of the kind of person he was. Years ago people from Hebron and Kiryat Arba would conduct Friday morning tours in Hebron, walking through different parts of the city, hearing explanations and showing Jewish presence in areas not always accessible to Israelis. One Friday morning Gandhi showed up to participate with us in one of these hikes. Armed with an Uzi pistol, he joined in the discussion preceding the hike, deciding where to go. One man, waving his arm in a certain direction, negated one particular street, saying, "even the army never goes there." Gandhi's ears visibly perked up, and he asked, "where doesn't the army ever go?" Receiving the answer, he rejoined, "that's where we are going today." And we did.

That's the kind of man Gandhi was. That was the personality that allowed him to be the successful general he was in the IDF. His courage was not only reflected in an absence of fear. We was willing and able to be an example to others, following a truly Israeli way of life - take matters into your own hands, initiate, don't wait for trouble to come to you.

Many times, both as an MK and as a minister, Gandhi refused to drive in a bullet-proof vehicle, as is offered to VIPs. Not long ago, when coming to visit us at our protest tent, he arrived with two cars, his regular vehicle and an armored car. Of course, he refused to ride in the latter, sitting in the front seat, next to the driver, of a regular car. His philosophy was very simple: everyone else drives in regular cars, why should I be an exception to the rule?

On his final trip to Hebron, during the Succot holiday, he sat with us, describing his efforts to convince Sharon to return to the Abu Sneneh hills surrounding the Jewish community of Hebron. He was overjoyed that the army had finally been given the OK and had returned to the hills, providing real protection for the first time in a year of warfare.

When Gandhi told us that he'd like to take a tour of Abu Sneneh some of the people in his party tried to dissuade him, saying, "Gandhi stop, it's dangerous up there, leave it, why bother?" Gandhi's response: "You don't have to go with me, I'll go by myself." When Hebron's military commander refused to permit the visit, Gandhi didn't argue. With a fellow officer he would not get into any conflict. That's simply the way he was.

Since the murder much discussion has centered around Gandhi's refusal to accept bodyguards. The tone sometimes borders on insinuating that Gandhi himself was responsible for his own death, due to this lack of protection. This is, of course, nonsense. Those guilty of Gandhi's murder are not only the terrorists who gave the orders and pulled the trigger, but unfortunately also the initiators of the Oslo catastrophe, whose blindness and stubbornness led to the Oslo war, a one-sided war, declared by our enemies, but not yet seriously responded to. They brought about a reality which gave the terrorists the chutzpah to dare kill a minister in the Israeli government, thinking they could murder a public hero and get away with it. There are many people with Gandhi's blood on their hands, but blaming the victim, turning him into the culprit, is criminal. Gandhi was consistent throughout his life, up to the very end.

Had he been any different, he would not have been Gandhi.

With this in mind, I'm sure that Gandhi, looking down on us, in keeping with his personality, is upset with the fuss being made about him, preferring that we would deal with Eretz Yisrael and with Am Yisrael, with the ?ikar,? with the essence, and not with, in his opinion, that which is secondary. Yet Gandhi personified the essence of Zionism, be it as an officer, a general or as a civilian, as a Knesset member and as a minister. His enormous love for Eretz Yisrael and Am Yisrael, and also for Torat Yisrael, the heritage of our people, spanning well over half a century, should be a paradigm from which all future generations will learn and should attempt to reproduce, for this is what our return to Israel is all about.

I guess, for all of these reasons, and for more, which are still difficult to put into words, I felt a need to pay my respects to Gandhi, lying in state, to say, not only farewell, but to express thanks, to a teacher, to a hero, to a true fellow Jew.

Tuesday, October 16, 2001

Almost three weeks ago the Israel Defense Forces reentered two hills
surrounding Hebron’s Jewish Community: Abu Sneneh and Harat a’Shech. Almost
four years ago those hills, with over 80% of the city, were abandoned to
Arafat’s Palestinian Authority.

Before signing of the infamous Hebron Accords, we warned that transfer
of the hills would inevitably lead to armed attacks on Hebron’s civilian
population. Leading politicians and ranking officers stood atop the hills, gaping
at the Avraham Avinu neighborhood, easily within shooting range, presenting an
easy target. Beit Hadassah and Tel Rumeida offered terrorists in Harat a’Shech
trouble-free prey: line up the sights and pull the trigger. It was only a
question of time.

For one year Hebron’s residents were converted into sitting ducks in a
pond, which included our homes, cars, and roads. Wherever we went, the bullets
followed. Some families transformed their homes into bunkers, filling windows
with sandbags. Many of those sandbags are now full of holes, the recipients of
terrorist ammunition. Other families rejected sandbags or bullet-proof glass,
putting their faith in Divine providence, resulting in miracle after miracle.

Some were not so lucky. The Pass family lost 10 month old Shalhevet to a
sniper’s bullet. Zviel and Matanel Meshulam were hit by terrorist gunfire while
playing on their porch. Little David Struk caught a bullet fragment in the
chest. A woman was shot while praying at Hebron’s ancient Jewish cemetery. Two
others were hit outside Ma’arat HaMachpela during Succot. Soldiers were also
wounded in the course of gun battles.

The Oslo War began during Ehud Barak’s short tenure in the Prime
Minister’s office. We had few illusions that Barak’s policies that would
successfully ended the attacks. Barak’s solution focused around a pure
conception of “give and take.” We give, and they take. Barak did not negotiate
under fire, as is mistakenly thought. Barak did not negotiate, period. Barak
conceded. Nonetheless, his yield was not enough to accommodate Arafat, and the
war continued.

Ariel Sharon’s election was more than a breath of fresh air. His
assumption of power was comparable to a massive blood transfusion. Following
Barak’s agreement to forgo Jerusalem, as well as almost 100% of Yesha, Israel
was virtually bloodless. Sharon’s enormous victory seemed to be a life-saver.

And what a life saver he turned out to be. Excepting, of course, almost
100 people who have been murdered by Arafat’s terrorist thugs since Sharon took
office.

For a year Hebron’s community had only one demand: Take back the hills
and stop the shooting. The most basic right of any civilian, in any state in
the world, is that of self-preservation, that of safety and defense. There is
no necessity to plead for that which should be a given. Any government knows
that its first and foremost priority is the safety of its people. An
administration incapable of protecting its citizens is never long for this
world.

There is an erroneous conception that Ariel Sharon’s premiership is
unproductive. Unfortunately, Sharon has been extremely active, but in the wrong
direction. The retreat from Hebron’s hills is a prime example. Sharon is
working very hard to stripe himself of all responsibility for our lives while
shifting that responsibility to Yassir Arafat’s terrorists. The Hebron “deal”
relies primarily on the good word of our old friend, Jibril Rajoub, who is now
the guarantor of our security. The Abu Sneneh syndrome is nothing more than a
recurrence of the Oslo cancer, a seemingly malignant malady afflicting any
Israeli elected to the office of Prime Minister.

The must successful cancer cure is also the most radical therapy:
cutting out the diseased organ. No
doctor would alternatively suggest injection of more cancer into a patient’s
body. However, rather than cut out the cancer, Israel’s leaders are practicing
the unthinkable – they are feeding the cancer with more cancer, leaving the
patient weaker and weaker.

Ariel Sharon’s agreement to trust Rajoub and Arafat is, by far and away,
the greatest betrayal of his promise to ensure security to all Israelis. It is
a betrayal of his own words, only days ago, declaring that we can rely only on
ourselves. The withdrawal from Abu Sneneh is a true and total abandonment, not
only of Hebron’s Jewish residents, but of all Israelis in the State of Israel.

However, we need not despair. The source of
the miracles that have kept us alive is not the Knesset, nor is it the Prime
Minister’s office. Our survival is in the hands of He who said, “In the
beginning,” of He who never shirks responsibility, of He who loves His land and
His people. He will eradicate the cancer, revive the ill, and eliminate the
need to depend on such pitifully poor leaders, such as Ariel Sharon.

About Me

David Wilder began working with the Jewish Community
of Hebron in 1994. He served as the English spokesman for the community for 21
years, granting newspaper, television and radio interviews internationally. He has
written hundreds of columns, posted on internet and appearing on websites and
in newspapers around the world. He
published a booklet of questions and answers about Hebron, titled, “Breaking the Lies.” Additionally he has acted in the capacity of community photographer
for over 17 years. He has published several ebooks of his photographs and
articles, available on Amazon. His blogs on the Jerusalem Post and at IsraelNational News have been read by over a half a million people.

Presently executive director of Eretz.Org, David represents
and assists several organizations, including the Neve Avraham ChildrenTreatment Center in Kiryat Arba-Hebron. He continues to conduct tours of
Hebron's Jewish Community and speaks to numerous groups in Hebron. He occasionally
travels abroad, speaking at various functions, explaining the true realities of
today's Israeli-Arab He is also a popular lecturer in Hebron, dealing with
diverse groups, including interfaith delegations, from around the world.

David Wilder has been in Israel for 40 years. He is
married to Ora, a ‘Sabra,’ for 36 years. They lived in Kiryat Arba for 17 years
and have resided at Beit Hadassah in Hebron for seventeen years. They have
seven children, five of whom are married and have many grandchildren.